Mystery Canyon 4/30/12

A group of 4 of us did Mystery Canyon in Zion on Monday. We got very lucky - after having been closed for some time, the flow in the Narrows slowed and Mystery opened that morning. We were the first group through after it opened. The weather was perfect and spring is in full bloom in the canyon - lush green in many places. This was our first descent of this canyon and it is beautiful. The mini "lake" was dry and the pool of water at the bottom of the next to last rappel was only knee deep and not cold. Wet suits were not needed.

Nice! :2thumbs:

:2thumbs::2thumbs:I don't know, that Virgin river looks like it could be cold! Did you avoid the swim in the pool of water under the long rap?

Ken

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Originally Posted by LVRAY

A group of 4 of us did Mystery Canyon in Zion on Monday. We got very lucky - after having been closed for some time, the flow in the Narrows slowed and Mystery opened that morning. We were the first group through after it opened. The weather was perfect and spring is in full bloom in the canyon - lush green in many places. This was our first descent of this canyon and it is beautiful. The mini "lake" was dry and the pool of water at the bottom of the next to last rappel was only knee deep and not cold. Wet suits were not needed.

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Nice pics, Ray, and welcome to Bogley.

Ken - "next to last rappel" is the 110' Mystery Springs rap. There has not really been a pool there since the winter of 2005/2006.

Tom :moses:

Excellent report and first post! Welcome! :2thumbs::popcorn:

Nice pics. Thanks.

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Originally Posted by ratagonia

Nice pics, Ray, and welcome to Bogley.

Ken - "next to last rappel" is the 110' Mystery Springs rap. There has not really been a pool there since the winter of 2005/2006.

Tom :moses:

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Can't see a year with this pic, likely 07

Hmmmm. Maybe it makes an exception for you, Kurt... :cool2:

Tom :moses:

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Originally Posted by ratagonia

Hmmmm. Maybe it makes an exception for you, Kurt... :cool2:

Tom :moses:

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:lol8::lol8:

BTW--great TR:2thumbs:

I've got video dated 7-25-08 with our group swimming at the spring.

Really a fun video, wish I knew how to post one.....

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Originally Posted by oldno7

I've got video dated 7-25-08 with our group swimming at the spring.

Really a fun video, wish I knew how to post one.....

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And to add - it was a swimmer in '09 as well.

Pic of pool at bottom of Mystery Springs rappel - 4/30/12. No longer a swimmer. And thank you for the comments.

Tom

I've got to dig for the photo. I think we were in there November 2010 swimming but the photo will have the date. Burr, got snowed on in there. I will find it and post the image.

Ken

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Originally Posted by jman

And to add - it was a swimmer in '09 as well.

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Dang if your not right jman--heres a shot from Sept. 19--09

I'm thinking Tom was in the Northwest fork of the Southeast branch of trail marker 6.5 canyon.:haha:

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Originally Posted by ratagonia

Nice pics, Ray, and welcome to Bogley.

Ken - "next to last rappel" is the 110' Mystery Springs rap. There has not really been a pool there since the winter of 2005/2006.

Tom :moses:

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The pool was neck deep for us in August of 2010 and ice cold. But, a few days prior to our trip down Mystery we had a record rainfall that had the Virgin river go from 44 cfps to 177 cfps in less than an hour! Rangers closed it of course and we missed our opportunity to do Orderville. Subway was full of sand 3 days after and our last day down mystery was as I stated above.

Gorgeous canyon!

Tom

FYI, here was what we encountered on November 14, 2009. We also had thunder, lightning and snow. I figured if you're getting snowed on it probably won't flash flood but I am going to guess that being snowed on does not necessarily make you safe from a flash flood. That is my buddy Jasper swimming around in that pool.

Ken

Wow, that's deep!

OK, I will revise my memory. The JUMP after that was definitely ruined by the winter of 2005/2006. Now a downclimb into ankle-deep water, most of the time.

That Mystery Springs Rappel - quite variable in how deep it is. Can be a swim, can be waist deep, not often less than that.

Thanks guys for setting my memory aright.

Tom :moses:

Since it was our first time through the canyon I just assumed it was always that deep.

It was quite enjoyable at the depth we experienced and the cold water very refreshing.

Just goes to show how much the conditions can vary with the weather. A good safety tip to keep in mind when planning your trip.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by p40whk

Since it was our first time through the canyon I just assumed it was always that deep.

It was quite enjoyable at the depth we experienced and the cold water very refreshing.

Just goes to show how much the conditions can vary with the weather. A good safety tip to keep in mind when planning your trip.

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Hmmmm. Seems like someone recently found that out in Yankee Doodle! :crazy: :naughty:

Tom